Busway installations consist of several pieces of bus duct that are connected with bridge joints. Bridge joints transfer the electrical load from one busway piece to the next via conductor plates and insulator plates. The joint may be assembled via a bolted joint connection, ensuring that the proper contact is maintained between phases of each busway piece.
Bridge joint covers are installed around the bridge joints to prevent injury to people nearby, as well as to comply with safety standards set by various standards-setting organizations and governments. To comply with general best practices, infrared (“IR”) temperature measurements of certain portions of busways must be made periodically.
Bridge joint covers may be made of continuous metal, preventing a user from easily inspecting a bridge joint or making temperature measurements. Thus, a user must first power down an entire busway, remove the cover, and power the busway back on before making the temperature measurement of the live busway. This method is cumbersome, inefficient, and dangerous due to the live busway being exposed. “Live” in this context means a condition where electricity is actively flowing through the phases of the busways and bridge joint.